


Here There Be Dragons (But You Already Knew That)

by jane_potter



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Discrimination, Meta, Metaphors, Minorities, Racism, Real Life, Representation, Sexism, Social Justice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-29
Updated: 2011-05-29
Packaged: 2017-10-19 21:11:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_potter/pseuds/jane_potter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Non-fandom-specific meta on metaphors, minorities, discrimination, social justice, representation and the reason why I write. "The dragons we fight with today, they're sneaky, insidious little  bastards, hard to kill: homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia,  cissexism, patriarchy, racism. Not everybody knows their names, let  alone their faces. Not everybody thinks they're monsters. Not everybody  knows-- or cares-- they even exist."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here There Be Dragons (But You Already Knew That)

I've been thinking. In recently designing the headers for my new Dreamwidth journal, I hunted up an old favourite quote of mine, one by G.K. Chesterton:

"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."

Dragons. And metaphors. Let's talk about them.

As difficult as the old stories make it seem, slaying physical dragons would actually be pretty straightforward. All it takes is one sword and one hero, and then it's over forever. All that's left to do is for everybody to sing the hero's praises for generations. Nobody ever spits on the memory of a dragon slayer. Why would they? It's so obvious to see that dragons are bad things, are monsters, and _deserve_ to be slain.

But the dragons we fight with today, they're sneaky, insidious little bastards, hard to kill: homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia, cissexism, patriarchy, racism. Not everybody knows their names, let alone their faces. Not everybody thinks they're monsters. Not everybody knows-- or cares-- they even exist.

No, children of minorities don't need to be told that dragons exist. They are surrounded by their dragons every day of their lives; they look their dragons in the eye and fight them face to face and struggle against every claw swatting them down.

Part of the problem is the people who gave birth to these dragons. They don't want to hear that they created monsters, let alone that their monsters are roaming around out there burning down villages. They don't care to arm up, thanks. After all, _their_ villages are safe, aren't they? And when they're feeling scared and frustrated and god knows what else with the minority children who are crying, "Dragon! Dragon!" in the town square, or even just implying the existence of dragons with the scars they carry, these people sometimes turn right around and silence the noise by killing the messenger. Brutally. Literally. Or throwing the messenger in jail. Or calling him or her a radical pushing an agenda.

There's a death toll. Not a metaphorical one, either, sadly. The dragons themselves don't kill, but they have spawn that do: ingrained self-loathing, despair, humiliation, loneliness, isolation, hopelessness... They're prolific breeders. And, under constant attack by dragonspawn, people do die. Dragons might not actually swoop down and carry victims off in their claws, but when children cut their wrists or hang themselves, the dragons win all the same.

If discrimination and hate are dragons, then the pen and the keyboard are swords, and they must be wielded by people who have experience with the monsters they mean to slay. It's a job for the experts, not the bumbling if well-meaning amateurs with half-hearted pitchforks in hand. You just have to _give the experts space and support to arm up for the fight_ instead of beating them down or kicking them out of town.

This is why it's so important that minorities be represented in the media, in all types of media. This is why minorities have to have the power to tell their own stories, not to just have their stories told _for_ them. This is why art matters. This is why I write:

So children learn not only that their dragons _can_ be slain, but _how_.


End file.
